Positively Pushing the Pace

Last fall, the soft-spoken Mary Keitany made noise when she blitzed the first half of the New York City marathon at 2:15 pace. She predictably hit the wall, lost her nearly half-mile lead and finished third in 2:23:39.

Afterward, at a press conference, she told reporters that if she had it to do over again she would employ the same tactics. Since then she's continued to stick with this strategy and on the few occasions that it's worked, it's shown she's arguably the best female road racer in the world. This past February, she ran the RAK half marathon in the United Arab Emirates and started out at world record pace (65:43) for the first 6 miles before slowing to a 66:42 victory. It was both the 8th-best time ever and a 1-minute positive split. One wonders, how much faster can Keitany run if she begins at a more moderate clip?

Gabriele Nicola, her coach who lives next door to her in Iten, Kenya, insists he's aware of the dilemma. "Mary began running at a high level as a half marathoner who loved taking the race out at a hard clip to leave the others behind as soon as possible," he explains in an email from Kenya. "Her approach to the marathon is more or less the same. We need to work on this since the marathon requires a more rational and gradual approach." Though Keitany turned 30 this past January, New York City was only her third test at the 26.2-mile distance. "With more experience she can run in a different way and target the world record for the women-only marathon," says Keitany's agent, Gianni DeMadonna.

Since Keitany rose onto the international scene five years ago, she's run the fastest half marathon on an eligible course, 65:50, and she's the fourth-fastest woman marathoner thanks to her 2:19:19 second-place run at London last year. Keitany's foot-on-the-gas strategy has ushered in a new wave of female racers using similar tactics just to keep up. Five of the top 25 women's marathon times in history were run in 2011, which is more than any other year. "The quantity of women running 2:24 or faster is amazing in respect to where it was a few years ago," says DeMadonna. "In Dubai [this past January] a woman ran 2:25 and was 10th." In that same race the top three females all ran under 2:20.

Nicola credits two factors for the improvement: changing social conditions that have allowed African women to become more "emancipated and professional" in their career choices and training with men. In Kenya, Keitany works out with a group of four to six males who are her designated pacesetters and have career bests slightly ahead of hers. "They are a bit stronger than Mary, but these are the men we need," says Nicola. The guys, along with three physiotherapists, are part of her training camp and are paid a salary by her management company. It's the LeBron James treatment, an entourage available to cater to the needs of the 5-foot, 88-pound dynamo.

Like Paula Radcliffe, the world record-holder in the half marathon and marathon, Keitany's a fearless, gritty competitor. Yet the boldness that she displays on the roads is tempered whenever she interacts with the media. She answers open-ended questions directly. How has your training been going? "In my training since May, I think I trained well," she replies. Keitany is so quiet that it's almost impossible to hear her even when she is standing two feet away. "Mary is shy with people she doesn't know," says DeMadonna. "We have to explain to her, and I have already done it, that she has not to be shy when she talks."

For now her legs are saying enough. If Keitany can curb her aggression in the first half of a race and strengthen her mind--something Nicola is working on with her--she's a real threat to break 2:18 for the marathon in 2013, when she no longer has the pressure of the Olympic marathon. "The real challenge for Mary is to run 2:17:30," says DeMadonna, stating a time that would break Radcliffe's 2:17:42 world record for the women-only marathon. He adds, with a hint of caution about what's gotten Keitany this far and also holds her back, "If she will be able to not start too fast that will be very much possible."